A trapper's role in wildlife management

This video has been produced by the Fédération des Trappeurs Gestionnaires du Québec, and explains the vital roles modern trappers play in managing wildlife. These roles include controlling the spread of diseases such as rabies, minimising damage caused by over-populated species such as beavers, and removing animals that directly threaten humans, such as bears. A transcript follows:

Trapping as practiced today ensures sound management of animal populations. The raccoon rabies control program is the perfect example of the close collaboration with the government to protect the public against epidemics such as rabies in raccoons. Since 2006, the work done has eliminated raccoon rabies in Quebec.

The expertise of trappers is crucial to carry out such operations and to ensure public health and safety. Today, trappers are true professionals, and perform their work while respecting wildlife and habitats. They are very familiar with the situation in the field, and contribute to sound management of animal populations.

With food sources more abundant than ever, and without sufficient predators, the populations of many species increase rapidly. It is estimated that there are one million beavers in Quebec, much more than there were during the exploration and colonisation of North America. Management through trapping allows the control of beaver populations while avoiding significant costs for society.

A professional trapper is also essential for the management of animals potentially dangerous to humans.

The Fédération des Trappeurs Gestionnaires du Québec is proud to promote the benefits of trapping, and the use of fur, a high-quality, renewable resource.